Women, Power, the Assembly and 35%

Some of us have been
angry with the Nigerian National Assembly since last week.

So there were proposed
amendments to alter the 1999 Constitution, to ensure that at least 35% of the
Ministers (and Commissioners for each State) consist of women a.k.a affirmative
action for Women.

Laudable idea… right?

Which is why a large
number of the people have been irked, and decried the National Assembly when
the Senate failed to vote in favour of the “affirmative action”.

Not me. I am not irked.
Well… not particularly for the non-passage of this Bill.

For starters, I am not
ignorant of the fact that we (as a people) have this weird ‘gift’ of perverting
(inherently) good causes, and using them for selfish ends.

Like “amnesty”.

I remember it began with
amnesty for oil-bunkering militants, and training them to be more empowered,
thus negating their need for oil-bunkering.

Ok.

Then, amnesty for members
of the Boko-Haram sect was brought to the table.

(It’s like the world granting
“amnesty” to ISIS)

Asides the sheer
confusion of who exactly the proposed beneficiaries of the ‘amnesty’ deal were –
seeing that denouncing members of the Boko Haram sect were never actually
identified – there was the disappointment that the Government’s response to
brazen and ruthless murder via terrorism was to roll-over.

Not ok. But the deal was
placed on the table anyway.

More recently … the
waters are being tested for “amnesty” for looting public servants.

Let us take a moment of silence, for this to sink in.

Maybe we should just
provide “amnesty” for all crimes already, and be the first sanction-free State
in the world.

If “amnesty” could be
perverted to the point of losing its meaning, nothing makes “affirmative action
for women” immune to being converted into a vehicle for actualizing selfish
tribal, political and personal interests of the privileged few.

There is also the danger
of institutionalizing mediocrity (and laziness) if the law was passed.

Heaven knows we already
have enough problems with the (misplaced) sense of entitlement brought about by
disparities perpetuated by the present “quota system” and the ever ready chant
of “Federal Character”. Often, merit is sacrificed at the altar of these prior “affirmative
actions”.

What would have made
this different?

Indeed, we can keep
shattering glass ceilings by merit, and not pine over a mantel-piece piece of
legislation, which harbors the potential to be perverted into a vehicle of
injustice and inequality in its own right.

Like the others before
it.

In any case, a
government that is truly interested in having more women in governance does not
require the lip-service of a law to actualize this. In choosing its Ministers,
the Executive arm of government could simply adopt the said affirmative action
as a policy.

Just as was done by the Prime
Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau (a.k.a
the most handsome ruler on earth, and in the ten planets)

Moreover, any meaningful
affirmative action in favour of the female gender should not be pegged at 35%.
At the very least, women should be on the equal footing with their male
counterparts, and occupy a minimum of 50% of available public positions.

Shebi members of the male gender have
occupied 90% - 100% of the public positions since 1960.

We have not died.

If women occupied a majority
of the public positions, we would all be alright.

But then… even if the
law had been passed, and an affirmative action was implemented for public
office-holders, what of at our places of work?

Will there be
affirmative actions to ensure that women are given their rightful places in
Board-Rooms as decision-makers, without being subjected to the extra-mile that
that their male counterparts are not subjected to? Will this affirmative action
have magically shattered that glass ceiling?

What of in our individual
homes, where we encourage the boy-child to sit comfortable before the television,
and practice being the Lord of the Manor, while the girl-child is relegated to
the kitchen, where she is indoctrinated from an early age that regardless of
how many degrees or A’s she bags, her purpose in life is measured in the
kitchen?

What of our lackadaisical
responses to rape, and domestic violence against women?

The truth remains that the
absence of a law on “affirmative action for Women” is neither the problem, nor
the reason gender inequality thrives in all spheres in Nigeria.

The problem is more endemic,
such that the “second-class citizen” status of women in the country is
subconsciously taken for granted, as the natural status quo. It is not a problem that can be wished away by a
cute-looking bill.

It is a problem which
requires deep reorientation and a total change of lifestyle.

There is primarily a
need for the overhauling of the treatment of females, from the girl-child to the
woman, such that if the Nigerian government is serious about actual affirmative
actions for women in Nigeria, the fundamental step would be to foremost
domesticate in all states and implement already existing laws, which promote equal
rights for females. Laws such as the Violence Against Persons Act, and
the Child
Rights Act.

I mean… if females do
not feel safe, how can they validly wield power? To empower the woman, you must
first empower the girl.

The Government could
also wage a war on, and stop child marriages under the guise of culture or
religion. Or under any other guise. For it is only after the girl-child has
been protected and given equal rights to a life of her choice that the world
would begin to take us serious on actions for women.

It is equally important
that women in all spheres, who are making great strides be regarded as the
equal humans they are, capable of holding any position or wielding any power
that their male counterparts hold and/or wield, without the need for the
proverbial eye of the needle, or a condescending nod of approval in the form of
a “35%” palliative.

I repeat: after all is
done and said, it is not a law on yet another affirmative action that we need.

It is a systematic and
fundamental revolution in our way of thinking, and in regarding women, that we
require.

Let us first in our
daily lives affirm women for the equals they are, and accord them that right.

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1 comments

In the just concluded elections in Kenya;Three women were elected as governors of their respectivecounties, another three women became the first women in Kenya's history to be elected to the Senate rather than appointed, this goes to show how much they value women and would elect them to lead unlike our country Nigeria where they'd rather pull down a move to make it law for 35% of ministers be women. If they'd turn down a law to select women to guaranteed positions; how then do you think they'd vote women to probable positions. First of all, women need to do more by staying true to themselves and supporting each other and when one amongst 1million gets a chance to serve, they should serve well and not be like the Diezani''s and Patricia Etteh of this world but rather be like the Okonjo Iweala and Dora Akunyilis.